The present invention relates to an assembly for conveying and rotating/transferring articles such as individual containers or beverage bottle cases or the like in a direction lateral to the travel direction thereof, the assembly comprising two or more substantially cylindrical conveyor rolls that are parallel to each other and aligned longitudinally in the travel direction of the articles, the conveyor rolls being adapted rotatable about their axes in order to effect the rotation of said articles or transfer thereof in the lateral direction, plus one or more conveyor belts or the like means for transferring said articles in the longitudinal direction of said conveyor rolls, the conveyor belts being adapted to pass over belt support rolls.
Conveyor assemblies are used as the horizontal infeed equipment of individual container-like articles such as beverage bottles and cans in a redemption machine. Conventional infeed equipment are generally implemented using two horizontal, in parallel running belts that are driven by means of belt support rolls or the like elements. The belts are naturally aligned to run in the travel direction of the articles and may form a small angle with each other so that the article can rest on both sides thereof on both belts. This type of infeed assembly must be complemented with a separate device serving to rotate the container item about its longitudinal axis so that a barcode reader can identify the bar code printed on the item. As such devices are equipped with solid and continuous belts, a rotating means cannot be made to operate through the belts, but instead, the rotating means is implemented using a separate element adapted to rotate transverse to the travel direction of the conveyor, generally in the interbelt gap.
Another solution is described in Fl Pat. Appl. No. 19,991,724, wherein is disclosed an infeed conveyor in which the forward-feeding conveyor means are formed by orthogonally to the travel direction placed infeed elements and the rotating means are disk-like rotary elements rising up in the gaps between the infeed elements.
These and other known conveyors that also are required to provide the rotation of the article being transferred in a direction orthogonal to the travel direction, means operating independently from each other must be used to implement two movements in orthogonal directions. Hence, these conveyor constructions typically occupy a large space and a plurality of separate units that must be adapted to cooperate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a conveyor assembly free from the above-described disadvantages. The assembly according to the invention is characterized in that each one of the conveyor rolls has adapted thereon at least one conveyor belt running in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the conveyor roll and that the belt support rolls are designed into an integral structure of the roll so that the support rolls will rotate with the conveyor roll and that the conveyor belts are arranged to run at least substantially in the plane of the cylindrical envelope surface of each conveyor roll. This kind of conveyor roll construction with an integral conveyor belt is extremely compact thus saving space in the machine. Moreover, the construction is rather simple to fabricate.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that each one of the conveyor rolls has one endless conveyor belt and that the belt support rolls are mounted on bearings running at the ends of the conveyor roll.
Another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that said conveyor rolls operate pairwise in parallel and that, in the rest position of the conveyor rolls, the surfaces of the conveyor belts are arranged to form an essentially V-shaped angle with each other, whereby an articles such as a bottle, can or the like to be transferred sinks at least partially into the recess formed by the conveyor rolls and the conveyor belts come into contact with the article.
A still another preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized in that a plurality of the conveyor rolls operate in a parallel disposition and that, in the rest position of the conveyor rolls, the conveyor belts are arranged to run along the conveyor roll areas substantially forming the top surface of the conveyor rolls, whereby the article being transferred such as a beverage bottle case moves forward on the conveyor belts when they are running, while the rotation of the conveyor rolls makes the article to move sideways on the conveyor rolls.